Broadcast 2232 (Special Edition)

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Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: SpaceX reusability, reusability assumption making, fly back boosters, "Space, Inc." Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience. Welcome to our Open Lines discussion. During the first segment of our two hour seven minute show, I went over suggested topics including the upcoming SpaceX lawsuit, reusability, the Earth-like planet discovered by Kepler, ISDC 2014 & more. By far, the topic of choice for the entire program was SpaceX reusability though the other topics did come up during both segments of the program. Doug from S. California called first and took up most of the first segment to praise SpaceX reusability, to let us know his thoughts on the subject and the type of assumption making he uses. While I agree on the importance of the success of the SpaceX reusability work so far, I had a departure from Doug on his conclusions and analysis. Doug was unflinching in his approach to the subject, his analysis, his assumption making process, and his conclusions. I repeatedly asked for aerospace engineers to call in to give us their views on the subjects as Doug and I do not work in the field nor are we engineers. Unfortunately, that did not happen until the very end of the show when Dr. Lurio called in about some of the issues Doug and I talked about. So you listen and decide. If you have comments and thoughts about our discussion, post them for all to see and learn from on TSS blog. During our discussion, Kelly, another John, and others sent critical emails to me to read on air. We also talked about pricing strategy, reusable penalties, and Doug's unwavering support in the public discussion comments by SpaceX executives. In the second segment, John called in from Ft. Worth to clarify what he had said a few months back given that Doug recalled the comments and mentioned them during his call. John had much to question about reusability, especially with a fly back booster to a land designation. He talked about economics, reusable launch penalties for added mass and fuel, plus ideas for water landing locations. I repeated the comments offered on launch penalties made by Ms. Shotwell when she was on the show last month. She said the Falcon rockets were designed for reusability so any launch penalties were already factored in and discounted so there were none. We also talked Falcon Heavy & how it might benefit from reusability. Tim called from Huntsville to talk about heavy lift & delays in depot turnaround times. I asked listeners if anyone had seen the Al Jazeera America Fault Line documentary last week, "Space, Inc." I gave my opinion that it was a type of hatchet job on private/commercial space and that editing made many people look a bit off or less than serious. The program is not yet archived but if anyone has a copy of it, I will post if for our audience to see. Tim never saw the documentary but had much critical to say about it, but without his having actually seen it, I had to discount his comments. Dr. Charles Lurio called in to say that were probably many ways/solutions to do reusability from wings to no wings. He made a strong point saying there was no single solution. Please post your comments/questions on TSS Blog above. If you want to reach any of our participants, email to me and I will forward your note to the person of your choice.

Sarah Cruddas for the first half hour on Space For Humanity followeed by a special Open Lines program

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Dr. David Livingston is available for business consulting and speaking engagements. Please contact him for specifics. You can reach Dr. Livingston by email at drspace@thespaceshow.com or (415) 455-9076.

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